# What's the best baseball movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 6, 2000, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930 "2000-04-06T13:27:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cleosia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@cleosia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cleosia)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2000, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/21 "2000-04-07T18:42:00Z")
My two favorites, going back to when the world was in B&W, were _Rhubarb_ and _Angels in the Outfield_ (NOT that piece of crap Disney put out a few years ago. The original that the Disney movie was **supposedly** based on. * * * Bitch by Birth ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2000, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/22 "2000-04-07T19:59:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by spoke-: > > **Field of Dreams** is a good flick, but it’s not really “about” baseball. Baseball is just a vehicle used to present the themes of the movie. Its most definitely about baseball. James Earl Jones’ quote near the end about baseball being the one constant in our history rings true. Ray Kinsella didn’t know his father. All they had in common was baseball. All Ray and I have in common is baseball. All Ray and Terence Mann (Jones) have in common is baseball (seeing a theme?). So while an argument can still be made that the movie isn’t ‘about’ baseball, its not just the vehicle for the theme of the movie. It IS the theme. * * * I ask not what you can do for me, but what you can do for me right now. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2000, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/23 "2000-04-07T21:33:00Z")
My favorite baseball movie is _The Warriors_. ---
**Author:** ![Zion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b5e925/32.png) [@Zion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zion)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2000, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/24 "2000-04-07T23:51:00Z")
Someone mentioned the _Sandlot_, but that really isn’t a “baseball” movie. It’s more about the wild imaginations, and misadventures of a group of friends. It’s a great flick (it’s on my “Best Movies” list), but one that can’t be compared to _Bull Durham_, or _Field of Dreams_. Adam * * * Not a newbie…formerly ARG220 ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/25 "2000-04-08T00:20:00Z")
1. **The Natural** (one of my all-time favorites of any genre) 2. **Bull Durham** 3.\*\* A League of Their Own\*\* Field of Dreams didn’t affect me as strongly. My favorite scene from The Natural: The manager (played by Wilfred Brimley) thinks there’s no way Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) can play in the decisive one-game playoff to decide the pennant. (If the Knights lose, Brimley has to give up the team to the evil judge.) Brimley is in the clubhouse prior to the game, lamenting how he should have been a farmer. Hobbs sneaks in behind him, starts talking about living on a farm. Manager: My Dad always wanted me to be a farmer. Hobbs: My Dad wanted me to be a baseball player. Manager: Well, you’re better than anyone I ever had. And you’re the best goddam hitter I ever _saw_. Suit up. Get chills just writing it. * * * “We are here for this – to make mistakes and to correct ourselves, to withstand the blows and to hand them out.” Primo Levi ---
**Author:** ![Cactus\_Jack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Cactus\_Jack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cactus_Jack)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/26 "2000-04-08T03:28:00Z")
Hey, spoke. I don’t understand why Shoeless Joe can’t be friends with Ty Cobb just because he called Cobb a sonofabitch. Also, I read Al Stump’s biography of Cobb, and if I remember right (I don’t have the book handy) it seemed more like he admired Shoeless Joe’s playing ability. They didn’t really hang or anything. Cobb didn’t have ANY friends. He did help some ballplayers who were down on their luck after he retired, but it was more out of respect for their ability than friendship. He hated everyone and they all hated him and he liked it that way. Even if they WERE friends in real life, that doesn’t preclude him from calling him an SOB and not inviting him to play. What any of that really has to do with Field of Dreams, I ain’t sure. And wasn’t Ray Liotta a nobody before Field of Dreams? I’d never seen him before that, and didn’t realize it was the same guy from Goodfellas until just recently. ---
**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/27 "2000-04-08T04:22:00Z")
The Natural, with Damn Yankees in a close second. * * * “I need the biggest seed bell you have. . . no, that’s too big.”–Hans Moleman ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/28 "2000-04-08T05:23:00Z")
Okay, I’ll admit it. I liked _Little Big League_. Even though it was nothing more than _Rookie of the Year_ with a mental superpower replacing a physical one. ---
**Author:** ![Anti\_Pro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Anti\_Pro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anti_Pro)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/29 "2000-04-08T06:20:00Z")
\<\<\<\\>\> It’s always nice to hear when someone else appreciates the original movie, rather than the remake, cleosia! My favorite part in ‘Angels’ is when the manager (Paul Douglas) hears from the angel, that his older pitcher will soon die, and decides to have him pitch ‘the big game’ over the doubts of the reporters. ‘League of Their Own’ ‘The Natural’ are the runners up after ‘Angels in the Backfield’ (b&w) * * * “Muck should replace ‘suck’. For ‘muck’ is yucky, while ‘suck’ feels very lucky. So, don’t stay stuck on suck, switch to MUCK, today.” ---
**Author:** ![kawliga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@kawliga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kawliga)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/30 "2000-04-08T08:52:00Z")
ALIBI IKE ELMER THE GREAT THE STRATTON STORY THE PRIDE OF ST. LOUIS RHUBARB KILL THE UMPIRE ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/31 "2000-04-08T11:17:00Z")
_The Fan_ Just kidding… ---
**Author:** ![PatrickM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7feea3/32.png) [@PatrickM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickM)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/32 "2000-04-08T21:26:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by spoke-: > \*\ ***Eight Men Out** is still my favorite. > > My main gripe with Field of Dreams was casting Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe Jackson. Come on. Shoeless Joe was a cracker from South Carolina, not some fast-talking northerner, fer cryin’ out loud.\*\* I recall a quote from someone associated with Field of Dreams (the writer or director etc.) who said, "We got all these complaints about how Ray Liotta wasn’t true to life, and wasn’t like Shoeless Joe. His accent was wrong, he batted from the wrong side of the plate, all that stuff. No one complained about the incorrect fact that the movie showed long dead ball players materializing in an Iowa cornfield. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/33 "2000-04-09T00:36:00Z")
Of the ones I’ve seen: _Bull Durham_, bacause it was _fun_, and it was about the everyday stuff of baseball. And bacause Susan Sarandon’s been one of my favorite actresses for decades now. And still a hot babe! _A League of Their Own_. _Eight Men Out_. Has Sayles ever made a bad movie? This one gets you into the nitty-gritty of how things really were between the owners and the players, back then. Talk about _hardball_. _The Natural_. _Field of Dreams_. A little _too_ much of a n-handkerchief movie, if you know what I mean, but still worth seeing. _Major League_ was funny, I remember, but I honestly don’t remember much _of_ it, and I only saw it a couple of years ago. * * * “Love flies out the door when money comes innuendo.” - Marx ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/34 "2000-04-10T04:39:00Z")
And how come no one’s mentioned _Mr. Baseball_ yet? Oh, that’s right, cuz it sucked. Anyway, my favorite baseball movie is _The Bad News Bears_. ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/35 "2000-04-10T05:10:00Z")
Anyone remember “Fear Srikes Out?” ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/36 "2000-04-10T15:58:00Z")
Ah, heck. How about _BASEketball_? ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/37 "2000-04-10T16:22:00Z")
Bucky: > [@](#): > > Can anyone name three movies from/about any other sport (with the possible exception of boxing) as good as these? As good as? Well, it’s pretty subjective, but I’d submit: Hoosiers The Pistol and… umm… White Men Can’t Jump??? Happy Gilmore Tin Cup Caddyshack? I’ll admit that’s pretty tough, though. I hestitate to mention it, but did anybody like “For Love of the Game”? Maybe the somewhat smarmy sentimentality removes it from consideration for being the “best”, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/38 "2000-04-10T16:25:00Z")
I can’t believe that no one’s mentioned **THE FAN.** Before I saw this movie, I had no _idea_ that major league ball could be played in teeming rainstorms. * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/39 "2000-04-10T16:58:00Z")
In case anyone didn’t get my joke (or justifiably ignored it) I was referring to the scene in _The Warriors_ where they encounter a gang looking like members of KISS dressed in baseball uniforms and wielding bats. Now _that’s_ sporting entertainment. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2000, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930/40 "2000-04-11T05:18:00Z")
**Cactus Jack** wrote: > [@](#): > > I don’t understand why Shoeless Joe can’t be friends with Ty Cobb just because he called Cobb a sonofabitch. Also, I read Al Stump’s biography of Cobb, and if I remember right (I don’t have the book handy) it seemed more like he admired Shoeless Joe’s playing ability. They didn’t really hang or anything. First of all, Al Stump did a pretty good hatchet job on Ty Cobb. Ty was a crusty fellow, no question, but he wasn’t the head case Stump made him out to be. I guess Stump’s version of the truth sells more books, though. As a player, I think Cobb knew he was in the role of a villain, and he relished the role and played to it. Ty and Shoeless Joe had a lot in common. Both came from rural southern backgrounds (Cobb from Georgia and Jackson from South Carolina), and both endured a lot of ridicule from their teammates for their southern mannerisms. My own view is that this is part of the reason Cobb grew so bitter. Seems that Shoeless Joe handled the ribbing a little better, though I think he also felt somewhat isolated from his teammates. I also think this is part of the reason Cobb had a fondness for Shoeless Joe. In retirement, Cobb would visit Jackson in South Carolina. I believe he may have lent him financial assistance as well. (Not sure on that point.) Cobb got rich on Coca Cola stock. Despite his hard exterior, he did a lot of good works with the money. As you mention, he supported old ball players financially. He also built a hospital in his hometown of Royston, GA. So Cobb may not be quite the ogre everyone believes. **Cactus Jack** wrote: > [@](#): > > And wasn’t Ray Liotta a nobody before Field of Dreams? Nah. He had played a major role in **Something Wild** with Jeff Daniels and Melanie Griffith. Liotta was the nut-job villain in that one. (And did a great job with the role, I might add.) [Sorry for the hijack.] Oh yeah, and as for great movies from other sports, how about: **Football** 1. The Longest Yard 2. North Dallas Forty 3. Knute Rockne, All American [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-baseball-movie/17930.md?page=3)